Erskine Tramway

[Erskine Tramway]

Hi Folks...

A couple years ago, I bought one of those plastic wedge sidewalk snowplows from Amazon. I've been using it to help clear the track whenever the snow depth and consistency will allow. Running it with the 'road' wheels outside the rails works OK, but it has a tendency to hop over the ties and get out of line. So, this winter, I built a 4-wheeled truck to replace the wheels. Here's a little video I made a couple days ago of the trials. It stays on the track pretty well, the derailment in the video came from the end of the blade catching a frozen chunk of snow left over from the last time I shoveled it. The snow was shoveled wide enough to clear the train, but not the plow.

https://youtu.be/Sq3u8gEM7GU

Enjoy,
Mike

[NP317]

Very Cool. Literally!
Looks like that plow might be happy on the front end of your electric power unit!
RussN

[tomc]

I need one but the asking price is to steep for me!

Tom C.

[Erskine Tramway]

Very Cool. Literally!
Looks like that plow might be happy on the front end of your electric power unit!
RussN

Thanks, Russ...

I only plow 75-100 feet to haul the wood, so it's easier to just push it. In general, I try and avoid having to run trains in the snow by stacking a couple weeks' worth of wood in the Loco Shed alongside the garage. The only downside with the plow is that the end of the blade sometimes catches on ice or weeds (that I'll need to remove before next winter) or guardrails and twists the truck off the track. It's easier on the plow if I just push it If the snow's too deep or hard for the plow, I'm probably not going out there anyway.

Mike

[NP317]

"If the snow's too deep or hard for the plow, I'm probably not going out there anyway."

I totally understand that!
RussN

[Erskine Tramway]

Hi Folks...

In case you ever wondered how Heywood couplers work, here's a little video I put together this week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STDMyTAb1F0

Enjoy, Mike

[Chris B44]

Hi Mike,
I was looking at the flat waggons with the bulkhead ends you have made. I would like to make something similar for maintenance work at our club rather that piling stuff on a passenger car.
Can you let me know the general size of them, I gather they are 20” wide and guessing at about 40” long. Is there any form of suspension with the plummer block bearings and what wheelbase and wheel diameter are you using?
Thanks

[Erskine Tramway]

Hi Mike,
I was looking at the flat waggons with the bulkhead ends you have made. I would like to make something similar for maintenance work at our club rather that piling stuff on a passenger car.
Can you let me know the general size of them, I gather they are 20” wide and guessing at about 40” long. Is there any form of suspension with the plummer block bearings and what wheelbase and wheel diameter are you using?
Thanks

Hi Chris...
Here's the original design. I changed some of it to make them quicker to build with what I had on hand, and I made them 20" wide instead of my Heywood's 18" wide. There will be an upcoming build article in 'Live Steam and Outdoor Railroading' magazine.

Bulkhead wagon.jpg (151.12 KiB) Viewed 67 times

The suspension is by 'rubber' springs in holes in the bearing mounting blocks.

6-4-17 bulkhead wagon bearing spacer.jpg (107.23 KiB) Viewed 67 times

The wheelbase is 18" and the wheels are 7" diameter RMI '2-1/2" scale' steel wheels. The wheelbase and overall length could be longer, I just wanted to make sure they would go around my curves without problems.

Mike

[Chris B44]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I can start on the woodwork whilst my new workshop is being built.